Duke Gardens

I took the girls and Simon to the Duke Gardens one day during Spring Break. Oliver was still not feeling well and stayed home and slept while Ben worked.

We stopped at a local biscuit and donut place in Durham called Rise and loaded up on treats to enjoy in the garden. There were lots of blossoming cherry trees and the first signs of spring flowers. It had changed quite a bit since our last visit in early March.

Elsa demonstrates her "I'm so tired and hot and refuse to move" stance. 

We have been loving the beautiful spring weather and hanging out in our yard on these perfect spring evenings (no humidity and mosquitoes).

Testing out the new grill!

First backyard cook out of the year.

It's best to keep this kid's mess outside.

North Carolina Zoo

The girls had their spring break the first week of April. We started off the week with a trip to the North Carolina Zoo. Our last visit had been on Christmas Eve so this visit was a bit warmer and more crowded. But there was also a new addition to the zoo, Patches the polar bear. We all loved watching her play in the water with her ball. Definitely a highlight of our visit. This zoo is very scenic with lots of beautiful spaces for the animals, but it's also huge so it gets to be pretty exhausting to try and cover the entire zoo in one visit. Oliver seemed particularly grumpy the whole time but the poor guy turned out to be sick, which really manifested itself the next day.

We were all ready for a refreshing Sonic beverage (and a nap) at the end of our visit.

reunited with friends!

I was so happy that my friend Jessica was willing to pack up her three kids and make the drive to our house the last weekend in March. The kids were so excited to see their friends again and immediately jumped into playing and imagining and being silly as if no time had passed since they last saw them. We are glad that we're still a relatively short drive from Virginia and all of our friends there. 

The kids played outside as much as they could but it ended up being a rainy weekend so they also came up with fun activities inside too, like creating their own treasure maps. Ben watched all seven kids Saturday afternoon so Jessica and I could enjoy a lunch date at La Farm Bakery (yes, we go to La Farm quite frequently). Delicious food (yummy goat cheese and asparagus quiche) and great company with uninterrupted conversation. A highlight of the weekend for me.

Checking out a frog Ben found one night.

Releasing the frog. I'm pretty sure it was near 11 p.m. at this point.

Checking out the neighbor's horses.

Maeve and Oliver assisting Jessica with making some delicious coconut orange rolls.

Like moths to a flame.

spring at the arboretum

Ben had joined me and the boys one afternoon in late March for some errands and we made a quick stop at the NC State Arboretum to see how the blossoms had changed since my last visit.